By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Virtus Segafredo Bologna entered the game having the second-best record in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague having 11 wins, but Valencia wasn’t rattled or impressed.
The host team after losing to Partizan rebounded and beat the Italians 79-71 for their 9th win of the season and a tie on the fourth spot of the standings with Partizan and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Chris Jones had 17 points, Brandon Davies and Cassius Robertson added 12 points each and Valencia got the job done after a very competitive and balanced game.
They did it, by keeping Virtus to just 24 points in the second half. “We take pride in our defense, that’s one of our biggest insurances this year and we just try to execute that”, said Jones.
Toko Shengelia had 15 points, eight rebounds, and six assists for the losing side, which simply couldn’t finish the game the right way.
“Most of our mistakes were not a product of their aggressiveness, but of our superficiality”, said Virtus coach Luca Banchi, referring to the 19 turnovers of his team. He might be right since Valencia won the game despite making 21 turnovers.
Big finish by Valencia
In a game of runs, Virtus got a 47-37 halftime lead, only for the hosts to dominate the third period with a partial score of 23-7 and take the 60-54 lead.
However, Virtus answered with a 10-3 run at the start of the last quarter and took the lead back (64-63), setting the stage for a big finish.
With two minutes left and after two straight turnovers by Virtus and a missed three, Valencia built a five-point cushion (71-66) after six straight points by Davies.
Marco Belinelli with a very hard big three cut the lead to two (71-69), but he missed one more, and Jones with two free throws made it a two-possession game (73-69) with 28 seconds left, which proved to be enough.
“Everyone did a great job, everyone took a step in front and this is important for the team”, said coach Alex Mumbru who joked about what happened in the halftime in the locker rooms when Valencia was trailing by 10 points.
As he said about his players: “They suffered”.
Photo: euroleaguebasketball.net